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BTS Skytrain
The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS Skytrain (Thai: รถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส RTGS: rot fai fa [BTS]), is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), a subsidiary of BTS Group Holdings, under a concession granted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) which owns the lines. The system consists of 62 stations along three lines with a combined route length of 70.05 kilometers (43.53 mi). The BTS Sukhumvit Line runs northwards and south-eastwards, terminating at Khu Khot and Kheha respectively. The BTS Silom Line which serves Silom and Sathon Roads, the central business district of Bangkok, terminates at National Stadium and Bang Wa. The Gold Line people mover runs from Krung Thon Buri to Klong San and serves Iconsiam. The lines interchange at Siam station and Krung Thon Buri. The system is formally known as "The Elevated Train in Commemoration of HM the King's 6th Cycle Birthday" (รถไฟฟ้าเฉลิมพระเกียรติ 6 รอบ พระชนมพรรษา).
Besides the three BTS lines, Bangkok's rapid transit system includes the underground and elevated Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines, the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT), and the elevated Airport Rail Link (ARL), serving several stations before reaching Suvarnabhumi Airport, and the SRT Red Lines of the State Railway of Thailand.
Plans for mass transit in Bangkok began in the early 1980s. An early version of the Skytrain project was known as the Lavalin Skytrain because it was designed using the Vancouver SkyTrain as a model, adopting technology developed by SNC-Lavalin. Due to political interference, the concession with Lavalin was cancelled in June 1992, despite Bangkok's chronic traffic congestion. The Thai government focused on increasing road and expressway infrastructure in an attempt to reduce congestion. This had little impact, as the number of cars on the road continued to increase dramatically. The routes considered as part of the Skytrain project would become the basis for the MRT system and are mainly underground. In the early 1990s, foundations and a viaduct for the Lavalin Skytrain were constructed in the middle of the Phra Pok Klao Bridge across the Chao Phraya River. The viaduct was redeveloped into a sky park in June 2020.
Another abortive attempt at building an elevated rail network was the Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS), which was terminated in 1998 after only 13.77 percent had been completed.
Shortly after it became clear that the Lavalin Skytrain had stalled, then-Governor Major General Chamlong Srimuang asked his deputy, Captain Kritsada Arunwong na Ayutthaya, to create a new feeder system with a route along Sukhumvit and Silom Roads. Krisda and his team from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) succeeded in finding a private investor. Krisda also convinced everyone concerned to allow the city supervise the project. Keeree Kanjanapas founded the Bangkok Transit System Corporation (BTSC) and it successfully financed the system and grew it from a feeder system to a full mass transit project. Thanayong Public Company Limited Thai: บริษัท ธนายง จำกัด (มหาชน)) had a 28 percent stake in BTSC when the Skytrain began, and therefore in its early days the system was sometimes referred to as the "Thanayong Skytrain".
Siemens, the supplier of the railway technology, and the Thai contractor, Italian Thai Development, built the system for BTSC. The "Skytrain" name was bestowed later by the press following the Vancouver example where the elevated metro had been named "Skytrain". Originally, the Skytrain depot was to be built underneath Lumphini Park, but due to widespread objections from Bangkok residents it was constructed on a parcel of land on Phahonyothin Road, replacing the old northern/northeastern bus terminal (Mo Chit). The current depot at Mo Chit is part of the proposed "Bangkok Terminal" project, where a large complex composed of a new regional bus terminal, park and ride facility, and other commercial development can be built directly above it.
The Skytrain system was opened on 5 December 1999 by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. It initially had lower-than-predicted ridership, with 200,000 passenger trips per day. Ticket revenue was only enough to meet the trains' operating cost, and not sufficient to service construction loans. The Skytrain's daily passenger numbers have steadily increased since then. On 9 December 2005, more than 500,000 single trips were made on the Skytrain on a single day for the first time. By September 2012, the Skytrain served around 600,000 passengers on an average day, increasing to 650,000 on an average weekday in 2013. A record 760,000 passengers traveled on Sunday, 22 December 2013, a day of mass political protest in Bangkok. The normal Sunday average is 400,000 passengers. The BTS had a fleet of 52 four-car trains (208 carriages) by 2017. 46 new four-car trains (184 carriages) were ordered to address growing capacity requirements of the existing lines to cater for the Sukhumvit Line extensions south to Kheha and north to Khu Khot. They were delivered from 2018 to 2020.
On 5 March 2020, the BTS made a song about the COVID-19 pandemic, as an antidote to the grim warnings about the coronavirus, showing the staff dancing and keeping hygiene.
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BTS Skytrain
The Bangkok Mass Transit System, commonly known as the BTS Skytrain (Thai: รถไฟฟ้าบีทีเอส RTGS: rot fai fa [BTS]), is an elevated rapid transit system in Bangkok, Thailand. It is operated by Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL (BTSC), a subsidiary of BTS Group Holdings, under a concession granted by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) which owns the lines. The system consists of 62 stations along three lines with a combined route length of 70.05 kilometers (43.53 mi). The BTS Sukhumvit Line runs northwards and south-eastwards, terminating at Khu Khot and Kheha respectively. The BTS Silom Line which serves Silom and Sathon Roads, the central business district of Bangkok, terminates at National Stadium and Bang Wa. The Gold Line people mover runs from Krung Thon Buri to Klong San and serves Iconsiam. The lines interchange at Siam station and Krung Thon Buri. The system is formally known as "The Elevated Train in Commemoration of HM the King's 6th Cycle Birthday" (รถไฟฟ้าเฉลิมพระเกียรติ 6 รอบ พระชนมพรรษา).
Besides the three BTS lines, Bangkok's rapid transit system includes the underground and elevated Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines, the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT), and the elevated Airport Rail Link (ARL), serving several stations before reaching Suvarnabhumi Airport, and the SRT Red Lines of the State Railway of Thailand.
Plans for mass transit in Bangkok began in the early 1980s. An early version of the Skytrain project was known as the Lavalin Skytrain because it was designed using the Vancouver SkyTrain as a model, adopting technology developed by SNC-Lavalin. Due to political interference, the concession with Lavalin was cancelled in June 1992, despite Bangkok's chronic traffic congestion. The Thai government focused on increasing road and expressway infrastructure in an attempt to reduce congestion. This had little impact, as the number of cars on the road continued to increase dramatically. The routes considered as part of the Skytrain project would become the basis for the MRT system and are mainly underground. In the early 1990s, foundations and a viaduct for the Lavalin Skytrain were constructed in the middle of the Phra Pok Klao Bridge across the Chao Phraya River. The viaduct was redeveloped into a sky park in June 2020.
Another abortive attempt at building an elevated rail network was the Bangkok Elevated Road and Train System (BERTS), which was terminated in 1998 after only 13.77 percent had been completed.
Shortly after it became clear that the Lavalin Skytrain had stalled, then-Governor Major General Chamlong Srimuang asked his deputy, Captain Kritsada Arunwong na Ayutthaya, to create a new feeder system with a route along Sukhumvit and Silom Roads. Krisda and his team from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) succeeded in finding a private investor. Krisda also convinced everyone concerned to allow the city supervise the project. Keeree Kanjanapas founded the Bangkok Transit System Corporation (BTSC) and it successfully financed the system and grew it from a feeder system to a full mass transit project. Thanayong Public Company Limited Thai: บริษัท ธนายง จำกัด (มหาชน)) had a 28 percent stake in BTSC when the Skytrain began, and therefore in its early days the system was sometimes referred to as the "Thanayong Skytrain".
Siemens, the supplier of the railway technology, and the Thai contractor, Italian Thai Development, built the system for BTSC. The "Skytrain" name was bestowed later by the press following the Vancouver example where the elevated metro had been named "Skytrain". Originally, the Skytrain depot was to be built underneath Lumphini Park, but due to widespread objections from Bangkok residents it was constructed on a parcel of land on Phahonyothin Road, replacing the old northern/northeastern bus terminal (Mo Chit). The current depot at Mo Chit is part of the proposed "Bangkok Terminal" project, where a large complex composed of a new regional bus terminal, park and ride facility, and other commercial development can be built directly above it.
The Skytrain system was opened on 5 December 1999 by Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn. It initially had lower-than-predicted ridership, with 200,000 passenger trips per day. Ticket revenue was only enough to meet the trains' operating cost, and not sufficient to service construction loans. The Skytrain's daily passenger numbers have steadily increased since then. On 9 December 2005, more than 500,000 single trips were made on the Skytrain on a single day for the first time. By September 2012, the Skytrain served around 600,000 passengers on an average day, increasing to 650,000 on an average weekday in 2013. A record 760,000 passengers traveled on Sunday, 22 December 2013, a day of mass political protest in Bangkok. The normal Sunday average is 400,000 passengers. The BTS had a fleet of 52 four-car trains (208 carriages) by 2017. 46 new four-car trains (184 carriages) were ordered to address growing capacity requirements of the existing lines to cater for the Sukhumvit Line extensions south to Kheha and north to Khu Khot. They were delivered from 2018 to 2020.
On 5 March 2020, the BTS made a song about the COVID-19 pandemic, as an antidote to the grim warnings about the coronavirus, showing the staff dancing and keeping hygiene.
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